


Desperation makes you different

by m1raculous_wr1ter_g1rl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 07:20:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30119151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m1raculous_wr1ter_g1rl/pseuds/m1raculous_wr1ter_g1rl
Summary: “Oh, Tikki,” she said mournfully, “do you think I’ll ever be able to tell him how I feel?” Tikki zipped out from under her pillow and hovered near her head.“Of course you will, Marinette!” She cried. “I believe in you!” Marinette sighed again and collapsed backwards, sprawling her hands out to her sides, before sitting up so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, her gaze moving straight to the skylight where she’d seen movement.“Who’s there?” She called, getting up off her bed and going to open the skylight. She climbed up the steps and pushed the heavy window open, going out onto the roof before gaping in shock. Chat Noir was crouched on her railing, wearing a bulging carryall, and he was crying.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 13
Kudos: 116





	Desperation makes you different

Marinette was sitting on her bed scrolling through her gallery of photos, of her and Alya and Nino and… Adrien. She sighed.

“Oh, Tikki,” she said mournfully, “do you think I’ll ever be able to tell him how I feel?” Tikki zipped out from under her pillow and hovered near her head. 

“Of course you will, Marinette!” She cried. “I believe in you!” Marinette sighed again and collapsed backwards, sprawling her hands out to her sides, before sitting up so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, her gaze moving straight to the skylight where she’d seen movement. 

“Who’s there?” She called, getting up off her bed and going to open the skylight. She climbed up the steps and pushed the heavy window open, going out onto the roof before gaping in shock. Chat Noir was crouched on her railing, wearing a bulging carryall, and he was crying, big, heavy sobs that made his whole frame shudder. “Chat Noir!” She whispered, slowly moving across the balcony towards him. “What’s wrong? Come in, come into my room, it’s okay…” She stretched out her arms and he lurched into a hug, clinging to her and burying his face in her neck. 

“Marinette,” he sniffled, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m such a mess, but I didn’t know where to go or what to do… I’d have gone to Ladybug but of course I don’t know who she is and my other friends are busy and plus they’re my real life friends so they can’t know I’m me and… I’m so sorry!” She tried to move away but he just clung tighter, so she carefully slipped her hands behind his thighs and lifted him, staggering down the steps and hearing the skylight close behind her. Thanks, Tikki, she thought, and set Chat Noir down on the edge of her bed, gently placing his bag on the floor, then propping some cushions up against the headboard and settling against them, holding out her arms once more to him. 

“Come here, Chat Noir,” she told him, pulling him close to her side and pulling her duvet round his shivering body, “I’ve got you. What’s wrong?” He nuzzled into her neck and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“My… my father kicked me out,” he murmured. “He’s wealthy and he didn’t approve of my friends, he said they were bad for my image and therefore his. I didn’t know where to turn. I was going to stay in the park for tonight and try and work out where to go tomorrow, but then someone tried to mug me and they almost took my Miraculous. I was desperate, I’m sorry, Marinette, I’m so sorry to dump all of this on you…” Marinette rubbed his back softly, trying to give him some comfort, and stroked his hair as he cried into her shirt.

“Hey, hey, Chat Noir, it’s alright, I promise. You’re here now, you’re safe and I won’t let anything hurt you. You can let your guard down with me, I’m here for you. You’re one of my best friends…” She held him tighter as he curled into her warm side, and yelped as his cold fingers touched her stomach. “Chat Noir, you’re frozen!” And she wrapped her arms around his back. Gradually, his shivering slowed and his sobs lessened. Looking down, she saw his eyes slip closed and he began to purr softly, a deep rumbling in his chest. As he relaxed, she realised how exhausted he must be, and when he passed out on her chest she made no attempt to move, for fear she might disturb him. 

Suddenly, just as she was about to drift off herself, he shuddered, and whispered, “No, Father, please! Please, I swear, you don’t understand! No, Natalie, Father, please!” Gently, she shook his shoulders until he blearily opened his eyes. 

“Chat Noir, you were having a nightmare,” she told him soothingly, softly ruffling the hair behind his ears and then rubbing there, just as she would a real cat. “Look, you’re shaking. Relax, I promise you’re safe here, I promise…” He closed his eyes once more and slipped into a deep sleep, seemingly dreamless, and it wasn’t long before she joined him. 

\-----

Chat Noir awoke slowly, coughing a little to ease the gunk in his throat - this is what happens when you cry yourself to sleep, he told himself - and squirming, stretching…

“Hey!” a small voice cried. Jolting into wakefulness, he looked around. “You hit me in the face,” Marinette accused him, blue eyes heavy with sleep. 

“Sorry,” he whispered, taking in his surroundings. “I’m so sorry, Marinette, I didn’t mean to impose on you…” He slunk back, almost falling off the bed before she caught his hand and pulled him back. 

“Hey, Chat Noir, it’s alright,” she reassured him, pulling him close once more and gently kissing his forehead. “Like I said last night, you’re one of my best friends, and in a completely platonic way, I love you - I’m so glad you felt you could trust me and that you didn’t get hurt or have your identity exposed last night. You can stay here as long as you need - I think we already established how platonic our friendship is a few weeks ago, when you came to dinner and my dad got akumatised - so please, don’t worry, don’t freak out…” He sighed and nuzzled closer, the cat in him drawn to her warmth like a moth to a lamp.

“Are you sure, Marinette?” He asked nervously, relaxing a little when he felt her fingers slip behind his ears and rub soothingly, all worries soon forgotten as he began to purr. 

“I’m sure, Chat Noir - ugh, it’s so formal. Can I call you Kitty-Cat?” She asked playfully. He pretended to think for a moment. 

“Sure, Marinette,” he grinned and squirmed away. 

A voice floated up from downstairs. “Marinette! You’re going to be late, I hope you’re up and dressed!” She winced.

“Mama, I’m not feeling so good, my period started and I think it’s going to be a really rough one - please can you sign me out of school for the rest of this week? I don’t want breakfast - I’ve taken some painkillers and I’m going back to sleep!” She grimaced, and said in an undertone, “I hate lying to Mama but this time, I think it’s justified…”

“Of course, Marinette, that’s fine - are you coming down for lunch?”

“I don’t think so… I’ll be down for dinner though.” She sighed, hearing her mother go back down to the bakery, and turned to Chat Noir again. “Now we have a few days to work out what to do with you, Kitty-Cat. Do you have any idea where you could go?”

He sighed and shook his head. “It’s really difficult. I have several friends who I could go to but I’m afraid now my father’s disowned me, anyone I speak to will become a target - as it is he’s probably either going to fake my death or actually get rid of me…” Curling up into a ball miserably, he added, “I saw a side of him yesterday I’d never seen before. Usually he’s strict and not exactly warm, but yesterday… he was just plain cruel. I wouldn’t put anything past him.” He closed his eyes, remembering…

\-----

Marinette scowled when Chat Noir’s eyes were closed. She had no idea who his family was, but she was not impressed by one iota with the way they had treated him. She put her hand gently on his arm and he jumped and jerked away. “Kitty-Cat? What’s wrong?” He shook his head and nestled close again.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” His breath began to come in raw gasps as he started to hyperventilate, backing away from her across the room, pulling at his hair, his back hitting the wall as he slid down it to the floor, burying his face in his hands. He pulled away as Marinette came closer, whimpering as she touched his shoulder. “Please don’t…” he murmured, “please, please don’t, I’ll behave, I swear!” 

Marinette fought down the ball of anger in her chest and forced herself to speak gently. “Chat Noir,” she said, “it’s me, it’s Marinette, and I promise I won’t hurt you. I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, and to make you feel safe. Take deep breaths, Kitty-Cat, really deep breaths, that’s it…” He looked up at her with despair and trust in his eyes. 

“You- you promise?” he whispered, so quietly she could barely hear him. “You’re not going to hurt me?” She nodded solemnly and knelt down next to him, waiting for him to make the next move, stretching out her arms tentatively and wrapping it around his shoulders as he nestled in close. They stayed like that for a long time, silently holding each other, giving and receiving comfort and care, before Marinette carefully lifted him and sat on the bed, her arms around his waist and legs, him clinging to her shoulders, and once they were settled, she gently shushed him until he once again passed out. 

\------

“Ladybug, look out! Plagg, claws off!” Adrien murmured in his sleep. Plagg felt himself freed from Adrien’s ring, and moaned, flopping on his back, then looking around to see Marinette’s room. “When did we get here? And- wait- Sugarcube?!” He’d just spotted Tikki peering from her hiding place, and she zoomed over to join him and quickly fill him in. As she reached the end of her tale, she saw that Plagg was almost asleep, and smiled, letting him relax and rest. 

\-----

As the rays of afternoon sunshine streaming through the window hit her closed eyes, Marinette opened them to find a familiar mop of blond hair strewn across her chest. Looking closer, she saw only gold where there should be a pair of black ears, and spotted an exhausted Plagg passed out on the bed beside Tikki and… Adrien?! Marinette gasped, accidentally awakening the sleeping boy, who lashed out and pulled away before coming to his senses and looking down at his suitless hands, eyes widening in disbelief. “This… wasn’t how I wanted this to happen,” he said, subdued, sprawling on her bed and groaning. Tikki looked up in alarm, and crept away across the room to her hiding place. “I actually was going to tell you, I promise, but I was going to wait until everything was less… complicated…” Marinette blushed - Adrien had hugged her! And slept in her bed! And saved her life on numerous occasions - but fought to regain her cool. 

“I- um- wait, your father kicked you out? And he did this to you? That horrible man!” She stopped for a moment, fighting her anger. The last thing she needed was to get akumatised… She reached out to touch his shoulders, but he grabbed her wrists. 

“Calm down, Marinette, please! He didn’t hurt me badly, and-” She cut him off by pushing up his sleeve, revealing an ugly mark on his forearm. He dropped his hands to his sides and looked down miserably, but she gently tugged his chin up and moved the collar of his shirt, to find a dark band around his throat.

“I can’t believe it!” She cried. “But… what happened?”

\-----

Adrien looked down at the floor, before facing his father resolutely, determination in his eyes. “Father,” he begged, “please, just this once!” 

“Absolutely not,” he replied, steel in his eyes. 

“I just want to go to the movies with my friends like a normal 16 year old for once! It’s completely unfair! You never let me do anything you don’t think is ‘beneficial for my development!’” 

Gabriel Agreste took a step forward. “Don’t you dare speak to me in that manner, Adrien!” 

Adrien’s eyes darkened. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he still ground out, “Why shouldn’t I?”

Gabriel stiffened, the muscles in his forehead tensing. He stepped toward Adrien, grabbing his wrist. Adrien gasped and pulled away, but Gabriel caught him by the throat and held him against the wall, pinning him there mercilessly as he struggled helplessly. “Very well, Adrien. Go to the movies. But don’t bother coming back!.” Gabriel released his hold and Adrien slumped to the floor, burying his head in his hands. “Pack your bag and leave my house. You’re no son of mine.” As Adrien looked up in horror and began to plead, his bodyguard picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, taking him to his room. 

Laying on his bed in despair, he heard his father’s voice over the tannoy system. “You have 10 minutes, boy.” Shocked to his senses, he threw together a bundle of underwear and his schoolbooks, cramming them into a carryall, then headed out of the door, to be escorted off the premises. 

\-----

Marinette’s heart broke for the bruised boy sitting on her bed, and she pulled him into a close hug. After a while, he pulled back to look at her. “Ma-Marinette?” He asked timidly. “Can I explain something to you?” 

She smiled gently at him. “Of course you can, Adrien. I’m just as much your friend now as I was when you were Chat Noir.” 

He gulped, turned a little red, and stammered, “I-I’m really sorry I’ve pushed you away a little, as Adrien - I didn’t want to hurt you, Marinette, you’re such a good friend, you’re awesome, but I’ve known for a while you like me.”

“You have?!” She interrupted, blushing with embarrassment. He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, Nino told me in like, the second week of school. Anyway, my point is - I’ve been trying to explain to the others that you’re just a friend for a while now, and while I’m honoured that you like me, I hope you understand that I can’t be with you because of my love for Ladybug. Ugh, this is really embarrassing, I hope I made at least some sense? Probably not but at least I tried...” He face-planted on her bed, beet red. 

Marinette stared at the ceiling, helpless. She couldn’t ask Tikki for help. She stared around her room frantically for any ideas, and her face lit up when she spotted the notepad on her desk. She hopped up to get it, wrote her name, Adrien’s, Chat Noir’s and Ladybug’s on it, then sat back down on her bed next to him. “Hey, Kitty-Cat,” she said, waving the paper under his nose, “look what I made.” He reluctantly sat up and took the paper she was holding. She pointed to it with the pencil, taking a deep breath. “So look,” she said. “Here’s you and Chat Noir, both in love with Ladybug,” she drew 2 one-way arrows from their names to hers. “Here’s you and Chat being the same person,” She drew a double-headed arrow between them. “And here’s me being in love with you. What if…” She added a one-way arrow from Ladybug’s name to Adrien’s. He shook his head. 

“That’s cruel, Marinette, I mean it.” She added one more arrow to the page, a double headed arrow between her and Ladybug. His eyes widened as he worked out what she meant. “No way. I saw you with her! You were Multimouse!” 

“I was Multimouse, merged with Trixx,” she explained. “I was worried Chat Noir might guess, so I used an illusion to show myself with myself. Then once you were gone, I used Tikki to actually fix everything.” He shook his head in disbelief. 

“But then all that business with Weredad…” 

She blushed. “I thought you were about to guess I was Ladybug, so I panicked and said I was in love with you. I was lying about being sad when you took matters into your own hands and rejected me - I’d got out of a really sticky situation. And that’s why Ladybug didn’t show up to help - it was because I was separated from Tikki and was trying to save myself from the maze.” 

Realisation dawned in Adrien’s eyes as he blushed a deep red. “So… all this time, Ladybug has been rejecting Chat Noir, not realising he was Adrien, and Adrien has been pushing away Marinette, not to mention Chat Noir telling her whole family he was in love with someone else, not realising she was Ladybug?” 

She nodded. “Looks like it…” She blushed. 

He looked at her shyly. “With all that out the way… I guess I can finally say it. Marinette - would you like to go on a date with me sometime? Not right now, obviously, Bugaboo - but sometime would be nice…” 

“I’d love that, Kitty-Cat,” she agreed hurriedly and happily, then paused, thinking. “Honestly, I think the best thing to do at this point is to tell my parents everything though. I know our identities are meant to be secret and all, but you don’t have anywhere safe to go and they’ll be fine with you staying here - they really liked you when you came over for gaming practice.”

He nodded, sighing contentedly. For all that he was worried about his father, if he was with his Bug, nothing could hurt him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like this :D first work but I'm planning more, if I can get my little ADHD brain to focus on it for more than 5 seconds at a time...


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